New York State government is "broken and needs to be fixed," state voters say 89 - 9 percent
in a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This overwhelming consensus is consistent
among all groups and in all areas of the state.

By a 59 - 25 percent margin, New York State voters are optimistic about the next four
years with Andrew Cuomo as governor. Even Republicans are optimistic 46 - 39 percent.

But only 45 percent of voters say Cuomo will be able to fix state government, the
independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds, while 42 percent of voters
say Cuomo will fail in this effort. Democrats are confident 57 - 28 percent that Cuomo will
succeed, but pessimism rules Republicans 57 - 34 percent while independent voters are split
43 - 43 percent.

And voters say 57 - 33 percent that the New York State Legislature will not cooperate
in fixing state government. Democrats split 44 - 44 percent on whether the Legislature will
cooperate in the fix-up, while Republicans say no 63 - 25 percent and independent voters are
glum 66 - 26 percent.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is part of the problem, 57 percent of New York State
voters say, while 19 percent expect him to cooperate in fixing government. Even Democrats
say 45 - 26 percent that Silver is part of the problem.

"That's one messed-up state government in Albany, almost everyone agrees," said
Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"Will our new governor, Andrew Cuomo, be able to straighten things out? We get two
readings. Most New Yorkers are generally optimistic that he will do a good job overall."

"But will he be an effective Mr. Fix-it? Ask the question that way and voters are split,"
Carroll added.

"New Yorkers agree with people who follow New York politics: Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver has been the 800-pound gorilla in Albany for years. That means he's 'part of the
problem,' most voters think. About one-fifth think he'll cooperate to straighten the place out."

New York State voters say 69 - 20 percent that an independent commission, not the State
Legislature, should draw the district lines from which members of Congress and the State
Legislature are elected. There is strong support for an independent commission across all party
and regional lines.

Elections would be more competitive if an independent commission created congressional
and legislative districts, voters say 71 - 14 percent.

"It's far from certain that those election-time pledges to make redistricting non-partisan
will stick. But voters heavily favor the idea of having an independent commission - not
legislators - draw the political lines for themselves and for Congress," Carroll said. "With the
state set to lose one or two members of Congress, drawing those lines could be a real blood-bath."

By a 48 - 43 percent margin, New York State voters approve of the job President Barack
Obama is doing, his lowest approval ever in the Empire State. Democrats approve of the
president 75 - 16 percent, but he gets a negative 12 - 82 percent rating from Republicans and a
44 - 46 percent split from independent voters. President Obama gets a negative 36 - 55 percent
score from white voters, with positive scores of 93 - 3 percent from black voters and 71 - 17
percent from Hispanic voters.

From November 30 - December 6, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,646 New York State
voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and
nationwide as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as
President?

19. Who do you think should draw the district lines by which members of the
state legislature and Congress are elected, the state legislature or a
commission that has no connection to the state legislature?

TREND: Who do you think should draw the district lines by which members of the
state legislature and Congress are elected - the state legislature or a
commission that has no connection to the state legislature?

22. There are still some state legislative elections that haven't been decided.
How concerned are you that these elections won't be decided by the time the
legislature convenes on January first; very concerned, somewhat concerned, not
too concerned, or not concerned at all?